Avatar's Shinobi
by erickmenk
Summary: Nar-Avatar x-over. One year before the Avatar reawakens, two shinobi landed in the Avatar world on different sides of the struggle. Learn what could happen if they introduce shinobi skills into the world.
1. Chapter 1

PROLOGUE

Fourteen year old Azula is on top of the battlements. Again. It had been a year since his brother, Prince Zuko had been exiled by the Fire Lord and yet her mind refuse to believe the reality of it. From her spot, she have a clear view of the docks, as well as the main palce gate. It's the same spot she had been when the boat carrying her brother, as well as their Great Uncle Iroh, sailed out into the world, never to return unless he have the legenday Avatar in his grasps, an impossible task considering their grandfather, the former Fire Lord, have made sure to wipe out the all and every Air Nomads on the planet, the tribe in which the Avatar is said to reincarnate next into.

'What am I doing here?' she asks herself. After all, it was Zuko's own fault for disrespecting the Fire Lord in front of everyone, demanding why no action was done to search for their mother, the Fire Lord's wife, who disappeared the same night the former Fire Lord died.

'It's what he deserved.' She told herself once more, forcing herself to believe said accusation. Her thoughts telling her that it was no big loss. Who cares for the reason why their mother ran away? The woman not only abandon them but the empire as well. There are no place for cowards like her in the Fire Nation.

She look out into the horizon not knowing why. It's not like she was expecting her brother's boat appearing there all of he sudden, Zuzu standing tall on deck, his proud uncle beside him and the bound Avatar lying on his feet.

She shook her head at the impossibility of such thoughts. Her brother is never coming back and that's that. Involuntarily, her hands clenched into fists, almost turning them white with pressure.

Her musing is suddenly interupted as she saw the main gate opening and a prosesion of Fire Nation soldiers march through. There's five of them, ten less than the standard numbers, the leader of the patrol holding a sword of strange design leading the prosesion, a close caravan being pulled by two other soldiers coming up behind them. Also, they're surrounding a young man grab in a strangest clothes she had ever seen. Who in their right mind would use a boe tie like that for a belt?

Then she noticed something strange. The soldiers surrounding the young man was standing quite stiff, as if they'e afraid to come any closer to the man in the middle, their duty the only thing keeping them from running away.

The princess narrowed her eyes for a better look. The young man, bound by metal cuffs on the wrists, seems to be her age if a bit older. He have raven black hair spiking to the back of his head, pale skin, and wearing an open white hakama, gray kendo shots, and wooden sandals. But most of all, he seems bored, despite the fact that several other Fire Nation soldiers surrounding him.

Curiosity getting the best of her, Azula, heiress to the throne of the Fire Lord, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, run down th battlement towards the courtyard to get a better look at the strange young man.

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Uchiha Sasuke didn't care anymore. He had done what he was meant to do in life and thus have no more purpose. He had killed his brother, thus avenging his clan. He had killed the Konoha Elders, namely Homura, Koharu, and Danzo, thus avenging his brother. He had empregnate the ony woman who had believe in him despite his traitorous ways, who accepted her role without an ounce of regret, the only woman who, he admits, he loved as well. And he had fought the man who had caused the end of his clan and the suffering of his brother, Madara, fighting side by side with his bestfriend that never stopped believing in him.

'Naruto.' His mind thought fondly. It took everything they had and more. Madara was a monster far worse and much deadlier than the late Orochimaru, or Akatsuki, ever was. He wasn't even sure if they actually beat him, losing consciousness right after using the last of his chakra to give Naruto the opening needed to finish Madara off with his do-or-die technique.

He thought it was all over but then he woke up in a strange place in the verge of death, the only thing in his possesion is the Kusanagi blade in his hand and the clothes on his back. He wanted death but the Gods denied him his eternal rest since the next time he woke up, he was being tended by an old woman up in the mountains. For months the old woman tended his comatose body, despite his plea to let him die. She taught him of the language of this world when she found out he couldn't understand a word she was saying. When he was finally able to move again, he found the old woman had already died of natural cause, she was just too old. She must have known she was near death since she had left him a note thanking him for giving her purpose before leaving this world, and asking him to promise her that if he really wish to die, then honor her by having the deed done by another's hand, preferably in the heat of battle.

Merely a month ago he would have just scoff at such a request but the memory of all the months the old woman had cared for him forced him to abide by it. So he spend the next few weeks exploring the lands, looking for battles that would finally allow him his eternal rest. But all he found is disappointments.

Then, just this morning, fifteen soldiers tried to apprehend him. They seems powerful and could control fire as their weapons. They said he was charged with the murder of several Fire Nation citizens, despite the fact that in all his battles since he left the old woman, he had only killed one man, who tried to kill him when his back was turned. The leader of the soldiers taunted him saying he is a stranger so he was suspected as a criminal. When he said that it was him that they were looking for, the leader taunted him more and said it would be easier to bring back a corpse since he's been itching for something to kill for weeks now.

He merely scoff at them and said, "Come." in a flat, emotionless voice. It had been a short battle. Seven of them had already fallen before three of them decided to flee. He killed those three before they got too far. When he was about to end the other five, they were terrified but stood their grounds. Using the sharingan to enter their hearts, he saw that they were indeed told that he had killed so many innocent people.

"Are you really foolish enough to face me despite the fact you face certain death?" He had asked them.

"Then I shall die knowing I tried to stop a monster from killing innocent people! Our orders are to capture you and turn you over to the Fire Lord's prosecutor for trial." A young female soldier, barely older than him by three years, stuttered in defiance, her spear shaking terribly in her hands, the four others behind her standing with her despite their fears.

"Yeah! Believe it!" The youngest of them, who he later find out who's name is Lao, shouted in defiance.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks and snap his head to the side. For a moment, he thought he saw the young soldier to the leader's right was the dobe with a Ramen fetish. He never thought he would hear anyone utter such stupid phrases like that on anybody else. The boy seems to be only a year older than him but clearly not the dobe he was hoping for.

He shook his head and glanced at the five soldiers who all took an involuntary step back from him. He poured out a small amount of killing intent yet they stood their ground despite their instincts shouting at them to run away as fast as they can.

Sasuke smirked, impressed. He had cancelled the killing intent and sheated his sword before throwing it at the female leader, who involuntarily dropped her spear to catch the sheated blade in her hands, almost dropping it when she felt a powerful force emminating from said sword. She wanted to throw away the strange sword but something tells her she would die instantly if she allowed herself to let go.

Sasuke smirked at their bewildered faces, particularly on the face on the woman holding the sentient Kusanagi Blade and offered them his fists in a submissive posture. "Then come claim your prize, soldiers of the Fire Nation."

It took the five soldiers several minutes before finally deciding to step forward the deadly teen. The defacto female leader, who's name he later learned as Zhun-se, ordered one soldier to get a caravan on a nearby village so they could carry their dead back to headquarters while she personally put the metal cuffs on him. Half an hour later, the caravan arrived with two additional soldiers who was stationed at the village to help pull the small caravan. They marched back to the city escorting the prisoner, the original five soldiers keeping a respectable distance from the prisoner and on high alert, considering the young man could move almost faster than the eye could see if he wanted to.

Three hours later, they arrived at the city and headed straight to headquarters near the palace.

Zhun-se stiffened upon seeing a few senior officers heading for their direction as soon as she and whats left of her platoon enterd the gates. She have no doubt that the prisoner aint any less deadly despite having his hands cuffed.

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"Soldier, report! And where is your squad captain?" Azula heard the Captain of the Guards deamnded as she arrived at the courtyard.

Azula placed herself several feet away from the prisoner with some of the other soldiers observing the said prisoner. The first thing she noticed was that the teen was quite handsome than she first thought. Shaking her head to get such thoughts out of her mind, she looked closer. He seems bored. His entire posture shouts confidence. He was surrounded on all sides by soldiers and yet he doesn't seem to care. Whoever he is, he's either very stupid, or very very strong. One thing's for sure, the young man is dangerous.

"Sir, private Zhun-se of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad, sir." The female soldier holding the strange sword said stiffly as she kneeled in front of Captain. "Captain Ghon told us we were ordered to appehend a criminal near the western mountains and was told that the said criminal had been killing innocent civilians for the past few days. We caught up to the criminal and my captain taunted him before attacking. The suspect surrendered after easily killing ten of the senior members of my squad, including Captain Ghon." She pointed at the caravan behind them, which was filled with bodies of ten soldiers.

"WHAT! I'll kill that bastard!" Zhun-se and the rest of her men cringed in fear when a familiar muscle bound officer stepped forward heading straight for their prisoner with intent to kill. It was Ghin, captain of the Second Boarder Patrol Squad and Captain Ghon's older brother.

Zhun-se tried to intervene but Ghin pushed her roughly out of the way and grabbed the bored looking prisoner by the front of his shirt. Instead of cowering in fear, the prisoner merely gave the furious Ghin a half-lidded stare and said nothing.

Enraged, Ghin used his free hand to take out the dagger strapped to his belt and was about to stab the prisoner when said prisoner head butted Ghin in the face. Breaking bones was heard audibly due to the sudden silence.

For several seconds, both Ghin and the prisoner remain in that exact position. Then, slowly, Ghin fell backward and dropped to the floor, dead, his face broken, inverted inwards.

Azula, as well as the rest of the soldiers, was stunned. Ghin was a very strong man, able to go toe to toe with five soldies at once. But this man, this teenager, had killed him with one simple hit.

There's a roar of outrage from the other soldiers and almost all of them prepared themselves to attack the still bored looking teen. The five survivors surrounded the prisoner and tried to warn the rest of the soldiers that it would be suicide to attack him in rage but the other soldiers weren't to be deterred.

Something was wrong. Azula, who had been keeping her eyes on th prisoner gulp when instead of fear in the face of certain death, the teen made a sinister smile. She knew he was dangerous but that smile told her it was much much worse.

"STOP!" Shouted the princess as loud as she can."BY ORDER OF THE PRINCESS OF THE FIRE NATION, THERE WOULD BE NO MORE DEATHS TODAY!"

Soldiers stopped dead in their tracks. As soon as they realize that the daughter of the Fire Lord was within their mist, they dropped to their knees.

Azula almost took an involuntary step back when the prisoner directed his onyx eyes on her. Schooling her features, she's the princess afterall, she wak towards the ten and demanded, "Tell me your name."

The teen merely scoff and remained silent, earning a glare from most of the soldiers. One leuitenant, thinking of gaining favor from the Fire Princess, charged th stoic teen with his drawn sword while shouting, "Bastard! You will show respect to the princess!"

Before Azula, or anyone else, could do anything, the teen's eyes suddenly turned red before seeming to disappear from his spot, only to reappear a split second later with his left leg extended towards the foolish leiutenant's chest, stopping the charge cold. Suddenly, the back of the leiutenant's body exploded in gore, blood, lungs, heart, and bones making a mess of the courtyard, before the reat of the dead soldier's body toppled down on the ground.

The entire courtyard was stunned to silence. The prisoner had just killed two men almost twice his size with such ease with his arms bound the entire time.

Then, the teen turned towards the princess, his smirk never leaving his face. Azula gulped upon having those blood red eyes directed solely at her. She never thought she would feel it again after so long. Fear. Pure, unadultarated fear. Her back stiffened, her breath hitch on her troat, her legs felt like jello, her body shaking like a leaf. It's like staring at the Grim Reaper right in the face. You don't want to look but at the same time you can't look away. A blazing inferno but at the same time the cold brush of death. Such deadliness. Such raw power.

Such . . . beauty.

Yes, beauty. She never thought she would see such raw power except from her father, the Fire Lord. She's afraid of her father's power but at the same time she never wants to be away from him when he uses such power. And this young man possess the same, albeit different, power. She wants, no, she needs to see the pinacle of his strength, the limit of his existence, the entirity of his power.

Right there and then, she made her decision. And her entire world changed.

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Sasuke could feel there are several powerful people scattered around him. He could feel their weird chakra just itching to be unleashed againts him. He smiled at the thought of such battle. He have no dellusions of being the victor againts this many enemies. He had used considerable amounts of chakra to kill those two weaklings while making it look like he hadn't use any chakra at all. He had hoped it would force these soldiers to retaliate en mass, thus providing him with the battle that would allow him his eternal rest, but it seems their duty to their leader, this princess, kept them at bay.

He then turned to the shivering princess, thinking that if he scares her enough, she would order his execution right there and then. Her entire posture looks eerily familiar to him, with her entire body shivering, her hands clenching into fists, her eyes downward. The entire courtyard was dead silent as everyone was waiting what is to come with breaths held.

Suddenly, the princess raised her head and stared straight into those deadly red eyes with the spinning pin wheels, a large grin on her face and eyes almost blazing with fire. "I am Azula, daughter of Fire Lord Ozai, Granddaughter of former Fire Lord Sozin, sister of the exiled Pince Zuko, Princess and heir to the throne of the Fire Nation. What is your name, warrior?"

No wonder her posture was so familiar. He had the same reaction before battling Haku on that bridge in Wave Country all those years ago. Zabuza had asked then why he was shivering in fear and he had answered, 'I am shivering, in excitement.'

He hold out his still bound hands at Zhun-se, making her squeak when the Kusanagi suddenly turned into a white snake and slittered so fast towards the prisoner. The snake slittered up his leg, then his body, until it coiled itself on his hands, turning back to a sheated sword as soon as his hand gripped the snake's body.

He threw the sword towards the princess who caught it reflexsively before giving her a smirk and saying, "My name is Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke."

Azula repeated the name in her mind many times, despite knowing perfectly well that the name would never be forgotten. She gave the sword a once over before turning back to stare at Sasuke, a bit disappointed that his eyes had returned to their previos onyx colors. She gave him the smallest of nod before turning to the captain of the guards. "Captain, have the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol escort the pisoner to the holding cells. Make sure to have Private Zhun-se be in charge of him. I wish to be present for their debriefing later today."

"Yes, your highness." The captain said with a salute.

Azula then turned back to Sasuke and said, "I do hope no more deaths would be happening today, Uchiha Sasuke?"

The teen merely gave her a coy smirk before nodding at Zhun-se's direction, making her gulp as she and her remaining men surround him once again. He gave one last smirk at the strange princess, giving her a once over that actually made the said princess sport a blush, before following the clearly fearful Zhun-se towards the holding cells under the headquarters, followed by at least a dozen more soldiers that kept a respectful distance from the prisoner and his guards.

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"Hello! Earth to Katara! You're daydreaming again! WAKE UP!"

"Huh?" The afformentioned girl said, looking up from to his older brother with a questioning look. "Sorry, Sokka. Did you say something?"

"Nooooooooo. Of coarse not. It's not like I need any help pulling today's catch into our boat so the village would have some fish for dinner tonight." Her brother gave her a half-lidded glare, sarcasm rolling out his voice, as he struggle to pull one end of the fishing net towards the boat while her sister was merely holding the other end of the net.

Katara immediately started pulling as well, half a dozen medium size fishes struggling to wiggle out of the fishing net. Once the entire net is inside the boat, they started the meticulous process of untangling each fish out of the said net and putting them in the catch basket, which already have several fishes caught earlier that day.

"Sorry about that." She apologized softly as she started untangling the caught fish from the net.

Sokka merely scoff as he started untangling their catch from the net as well. "You should really stop daydreaming, especially while fishing. We're in the middle of the frozen arctic almost a quater of a day's travel away from the village so rescue parties aint something to depend on if we ever get stranded here when you fall off the boat because you kept thinking about that blond whiskered dude we found floating in the ocean three months ago."

"I'm not thinking abut him at all." She whined. When her brother gave her a raised eyebrow, she relented and said, "Okay, maybe I am thinking a little bit about him."

"Make that thinking about him a lot. I mean, all you do almost half the time is sit there looking at his face. And let me tell you, he aint that cute."

Katara blushed at the accusation and threw a newly untangled fish at his brother's head. "That's not it at all!"

"Ouch! Hey, that would be coming off of your share at tonight's dinner, missy." He whined, rubbing his reddening forehead where the fish had hit. "Besides, he is a foreigner. He could be a Fire Nation spy for all we know."

"We don't know that." She argued. "Besides, whoever heard of anyone from Fire Nation with a natural blond hair?"

"You should know. You had a good look when Gran Gran asked your help to take care of him."

"Shut up!" Katara sported a full body blush at that. She did saw but that was an accident. How could she have known Gran Gran had been giving the comatose blond teen a sponge bath when came into the tent? It's not like the rest of the village women hadn't tried getting a glimps of his naughty bits after she accidentally blurted out how developed he was.

"Anyway, we better head back. We caught enough fish for today." Sokka said as he put the last of the fish inside the basket before picking up his oar. Katara did the same and they started rowing the boat back to the village.

The two sibling immediately knew something was wong the moment they arrived. The whole village seems to be converging in front of their grandmother's hut.

"What's going on?" Sokka asked immediately to one of the old men.

"Oh, young Sokka, Katara, exciting news. Our young guest woke up this morning." The old man said in an excited voice.

"WHAT?"

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Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that day for being lingual imparred. At least now he was making some progress with the help of the old woman who he met when he woke up a few hours ago. "Arigato, um, Tenkeru yu, Kana-obaa-san" He said as he accepts another bowl of dried fish.

"So 'arigato' means thank you in your native language. And that's 'thank you, grandmother Kana', Nar-Uto." Gran Gran said, smiling at the young man.

"Thank you, Kana-obaa-san." He pronounced pointing at himself, rightly this time. "Me Na-ru-to."

"Ah, Naruto. Right, And you're welcome. Please eat. You will need your strength back." When the blond teen gave her a questioining look, she pointed at his food and made a hand gesture of putting something in her mouth. He nodded showing he understood the gesture and went back to eating, trying not to take notice of the audience they have by the entrance of the tent.

The old woman smiled at him. After three whole months in a coma, the young man had suddenly came out of her tent wearing a fur blanket around his waist this morning, earning quite a few whistles and cat calls from the women and children of the village. He was talking in a language no one in the village could understand. It took an hour before they made any leadways agints the language barrier using hand gestures. The young man was quite a fast study, and he wasn't afraid to teach her of his own language. It was like playing charades, only more fun. And learning a new exotic language is quite a good bonus. She wonders what her grandkids reaction would be when they meet him?

"WHAT?" came a dual voice outside.

Well, no time like the present to find out, she thought with a smile. Soon enough, her grand kids squished through the crowds and entered the tent, both with a surprised expression on their faces. "Ah, Naruto, thse are my grandchildren, Sokka." She pointed at the boy before pointing at the girl. "And that is Katara."

NAruto gave the two a once over, his eyes staying on Katara a bit longer than necessary, earning a glare from the boy and a blush from the girl. Then, he gave both a big smile and said slowly, "Konnichiwa. Ore wa Naruto desu. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Huh?" Both kids asked in stereo, clearly not understanding.

Nani giggled and said to them, "That means 'Good Morning. My name is Naruto. Uzumaki NAruto.' literally."

"Look here, bub! Tell us where you came from and what's your purpose . . . are those my dried tuna sticks? No fair! I've been saving those for a special occassion!" He whined, seeing the bowls of his favorite tuna sticks now empty. "You're going to pay for that you, you, tuna stick bandit!"

NAruto merely gave him a questioning look before giving hi a smile and saying, "Sokka-kun!"

"What? What the heck does that mean? Who the heck are you insulting, buddy?" The said boy demanded.

Nani and the rest of the villagers laugh at his haggard questioning expression. Some of the first language they learned from Naruto are the use of honorifics.

"Katara-chan." Naruto said, smiling gently at the girl.

Katara didn't understand what chan means but the way he said it seems so fondly that she couldn't help but blush. The giggles and cat calls from some of the villagers that knew what it meant didn't help to lower he blood flow to her face any.

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NAruto groaned as he lay down the warm sleeping bag that, according to Nani-obaa-san, he had been sleeping on for the last three months. Katara had been much worse than the old woman when it comes to curiosity. Sokka, on the other hand, keeps giving him an aggressive expression, which is quite understandable since he's an unknown.

He can't believe he'd been in a coma for three months. It would take a while before he regain his old strength back, even with Kyuubi's healing factor. Madara really did a number of him before the old bastard croaked.

Madara. He snarled at the thought of that man. At least he's dead now. Well, he hope Madara is. He hadn't really saw him actually die. The bastard had used a last minute technique that had blasted him and Sasuke into somekind of vortex before the Ultimate Sage-chakra charged Rasenshuriken had hit him.

Putting thoughts of human monsters out of his mind, he let himself drift into dreamless slumber.

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	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

NAruto was bored. It had been a week since he woke up but he still couldn't do much in his current condition. Kana-obaa-san had lent him a cane to help him walk around the small village and he felt old needing to use it.

He had managed to know everyone in the village, which isn't that hard considering there are only about forty of them all in all. Everyone had been helping him with learning their language, correcting him when necessary, while he then teaches them some of his own language.

He also found out that he's nowhere near the Shinobi Continent anymore. Kana-obaa-san had been a big help in teaching him history and geography after dinner every night.

He very much like to start training but his body wouldn't allow it. For some reason or another, his chakra isn't refilling as fast at it should. He couldn't even spare enough to make contact with the Kyuubi. So for now, all he's been doing is trying to get better and helping out around the village with light chores.

He was walking back towards Kana's tent to have a short nap when he noticed Sokka lecturing kids about something. Curious, he started walking towads them.

"Okay, men. Today's lesson is all about learning how to fight. A warrior's duty is to fight and drive away any invaders that the Fire Nation would send to our home. We are not to let them take away our freedom and we must fight to the last man rather than surrender our selves to their tyrrany." Sokka proclaimed loudly like a general going to battle, his voice full of passion, tears swelling in his eyes. It would have been one hell of a touching speech if his audience weren't kids between the age of four to nine. "Any question?"

One child timidly raised his hand and asked, "Um, can I go to the bathroom?"

Naruto can't help but snicker at that, earning him the attention of the kids as well as Sokka, who glared as soon as catching sight of the blond teen. "What the heck do you want, blondie?"

Naruto tried to hold his snicker and put up his hands in surrender as he said, "Gomen. Gomen. Please continue."

"Gomen? What the heck does that mean?" Sokka asked rudely.

One five year old raised his hand and said proudly, "It means 'Sorry', sir. Mama taught me that one yesterday."

Sokka gave the smart alleck kid a glare that doesn't seem to have any effect since the rest of the kids started comparing notes on their language studies with their parents. All of them seems to have learn a lot already.

Sokka cleared his throat loudly to get their attention back on him. "We don't have time for useless things like that. The Fire Nation would be knocking into our village pretty soon and we need everyone to do their job in defending our home. So stand up and assume the position. And no, I don't mean that position, Ata! That position is for when you don't do what your parents tells you."

The kid, Ata, stood up from his previous post of kneeling with his butt cheecks extended and mimicked Sokka and the rest of the kids. They seem to be doing a standard punching routene and doing a very bad job of it. Naruto shook his head with every wrong move. The kids were tripping themselves amost every other punch.

"What the hell is your problem now, blondie?" Sokka asked loudly, glaring at the blond.

"Stance wrong. Them kids. Small. You use stance for grown ups." Naruto said, still having problems with his pronounciations and word combinations.

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you show us how it's done properly, Mr. Smarty Pants."

Never to back out of a challenge, Naruto walk towards the front of the kids, put himself in a standard Ninja Academy Beginner's Taijutsu stance, and said, "Must first be in proper form. Form depends on size of body. For you kids, do like me."

It took a few tries but the kids did what they were told. Feet apart and both hands bent on the sides. "Now, when punch, must remember to punch with whole body while use feet for anchor." Using slow movement, he demonstrated a standard straight punch. "Swing punch like this and add power to punch."

It took a coupe of tries, with Naruto correcting most of them but the kids finally managed to do the punch right. He had them repeating it for the next half hour until they could all do it perfectly. After that, he taught them a follow up kick in conjunction with the punch. "When use follow up kick, must move in smooth motion. This one attack with two moves, not two attacks with one move each. Aim for knee, crotch, or feet unless enemy same size, understand?"

"Yes!" The kids answered excitedly in unison before they started practicing the said move.

Sokka, who had been watching on the sidelines, couldn't help but grind his teeth in annoyance. How dare that foreigner steal his men! He's the leader of the warriors in the village so it's his job to train them. Scoffing, he turned to leave, only to be face to face with his current bane of existence. "What the hell do you want now?"

Ignoring the glare, Naruto said, "You warrior, yes?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

"You also the one that found me,"

"So?"

"I thank you." the blond said sincerely, giving the younger teen a bow.

Flagbustered, Sokka merely gave him a confuse nod and said dejectedly, "Yeah. No problem. Can I leave now? You're kind of in the way of my plan for personal sulking."

Naruto gave the guy a grin and said, "No sulking. You train as warrior. I make you strongest in village." He then grabbed him by the back of his coat and started dragging him away, Sokka protesting the entire time.

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"Slave driver." Sokka groaned during dinner, his head laying on the table beside a bowl of uneaten dried fish sticks. He's hurting every where. Even in places he didn't know exists.

Naruto, Kana, and Katara rolled their eyes as they continued their dinner.

Katara, being naturally curious, asked, "So, Naruto, what have you been teaching my brother to get him so distressed that he haven't even touched his food?"

"That's because I'm so tired I couldn't even lift my hands to eat!" Whined Sokka. "Please feed me."

Ignoing him, Naruto said calmly, "Basics only. Sit ups, push ups, basic kata, and running."

"You had me jogging around the village a hundred times while pulling a sled, which you had been sitting on at the time!" Sokka complained again, loudly. The three other people in the tent ignored him again. Scowling, he tried lifting his arms so he could finally eat. When that didn't work, he dipped his head in the bowl and used his mouth directly like a dog. "Hey, this aint half bad."

Kana merely shook her head at her grandson's table manners and asked, "So, NAruto, what are the chances of my grandson as a warrior?"

"Sokka have potential. Still rough now. Very rough."

"Hey!" Whined the said boy.

"He also use chakra with out knowing." The blond haired continued.

"Chakra?" Katara asked.

"Um, what is word? Hmm. It magic."

"Magic? You mean like that freakish magic thing my sister try to do all the time?"

"Water bending is NOT freakish!"Said girl said in defiance. "It's a. . ."

"Yeah, yeah, an ancient art unique to our culture." Sokka says breaking into her speech. "Blah, blah, blah. Look, I'm just saying that if I had weird powers I'd keep my weirdness to myself."

"Show me."

All three other occupants of the tent turned to the serious looking blond. Katara blush at his intense gaze. Sighing she said, "Okay. But I should warn you, I'm not very good at it."

Moving her hands near a cup of water, the water in the cup started to float slowly out of it. It flowed around her hands like a snake. Naruto, watching the entire thing with all his senses, was in awe of how the hand movements shifted the natural energy in the water to control it. But before he could analyze it better, Katara lost her concentration and the water splashed on Sokka's face, drenching him.

"Hey! I already took a bath, darn it!"

Ignoring her brother, she turned to the blond boy and asked timidly, "Well, there it is. What do you think?"

For a moment, Naruto remained silent, staring at her with such intensity that made the girl blush even more. Finally, he gave the girl a nod and said, "Mizu Nagare." At their questioning look, he continued. "Mizu Nagare mean Art of Flowing Water. Ero-sennin taught same before."

"You're a waterbender?" She asked, hope in her voice.

"No. Mizu Nagare just kata, forms, movements but not control water like you."

She deflated at that but perked up immediately and said, "Could you show me? Please?"

"Um, okay." He would have said no but those glazed eyes must have been a deadly weapon.

Soon enough, all four found themselves at the village center. It was barely dawn so the sun is only half way down the horizon. The rest of the village got curious so they decided to watch.

"Mizu Nagare is like dance." He showed her the beginning stance of the kata. He put one put forward while move the other back. Both arms bent in front of him, the palms of his hands facing one another, with the left a bit lower than the right. "Must move like water, never stop after start." He moved his body slowly not only to mind his still injured body, but to also make sure Katara could clearly see the movements. "Must flow from one move to next." He went through several katas of the style, his movements so smooth as if he had been rehearsing it for weeks, unconsciously awing his audience. When he finally stopped, he was in his original postion. He turned to Katara and said, "Now, you try."

Excited, Katara immediately run to stand beside him. She put herself in a similar stance and Naruto made sure it was correct. He then put himself on a similar stance beside her and said, "Remember. Must flow like water. Never stop after start. If forget form then make up own as long as flow not stop."

He begun to move and Katara followed a second later, her initial movements rough and stiff. "Think you underwater when you move. Do not force flow, move with it. Do not think of move, just do."

Soon enough, Katara started to get the hang of it. The movement were still very slow but it was a lot smoother than before. Most of the kids started o try and mimic their moves and had quite a lot of fun doing it.

"Move with heart, not mind. Not think, just do. Do not stop flow." He said gently as he stop to watch his newest pupil get lost in the movement.

She have her eyes shut now, doing moves after moves in a slow but smooth manner, a smile never leaving her face, not even realizing the ice around her starting to melt into water that slowly floated around her. The water moved around her in a swirling manner, flowing with the movement of her entire body.

Naruto smiled himself. It was like watching a solo dance performance. This girl have a very special ability to control water around her. Even their audience, the rest of the village, stopped their own movements to watch the girl. They've known she's a waterbender for a long time but never have they seen her do something like this. It was so beautiful that they wanted to be a waterbender themselves.

"So my sister is finally able to waterbend properly. What's the big deal?" Came the sudden scoff from Sokka.

With the sudden interuption, Katara lost her footing, as well as her control of the energy she had unconsciously build up, a snarl fo her brother already on her lips. Her snarl died on her lips when she saw almost an entire glacier sprout out from the floor, its sharp pointy edge heading straight for Sokka.

Reacting on instincts, Naruto appeared in front of the shocked Sokka. Going through several hand seals, he finished with a tiger seal near his mouth and shouted, **"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" **and blew a stream of fire from his mouth, hoping it was enough to cancel out Katara's accidental attack.

Fire and ice met on. But Naruto was weaker than he thought. The ice edge went through the fireball but at least it managed to melt enough of the ice to merely pushed him away into Sokka, not though them, knocking them out.

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"Father. You have sent for me?" Princess Azula asked in he kneeling position in front of her father's throne, a huge chamber filled with red pillars, wall of fire separating the Fire Lord's elevated throne from the rest of the chamber, his most trusted advisers and generals sitting cross-legged along the archway.

"Yes. I have heard reports that concerns a foreign prisoner." The Fire Lord said in an emotionless voice.

Azula knows how to read between the lines and her father had just ordered to tell him all she knows. "His name is Sasuke Uchiha. He had been picking fights around the Western Mountains for the last few months. We don't know where he came from. We were told that he had been innocent civilians but further investigation shows that he had spared all but one man prior to his arrest by the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad. The man who made the false report had been arrested and punished accordingly.

"According to the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol, the senior members of the aquad, along with their squad captain, had no intention of bringing in the prisone alive and attacked first. They said he had killed ten men within the span of ten minutes. We still have no idea why he surrendered in the end despite his skills. When he was brought to the city, two men tried to kill him. Both died within seconds of each of their confrontation with the still bound prisoner. One of said confrontation happened after I specifically ordered seize of actions."

"Then why is the prisoner still alive? He did kill two of Fire Nation's soldiers." The Fire Lord asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice, mirrored by those of assembled men within the chamber.

"Because the deaths by his hands are rom the very start are in self defense, all of them. As princess, it is my duty to abide by the law to promote justice. Despite their social status, it was our soldiers who is in the wrong. Also we have reason to believe his kin is of the fire nation since according to reports, he is a firebender. A very powerful one at that."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" He asked, a challange in his voice.

Azula gulped internally but continued. "Because, father, he reminds me of you."

For a moment, there was silence. Azula was afraid that his father would take what she said as an insult. Then, he ordered, "Elaborate, daughter."

She gave an intenal sigh of relief. It seems curiosity had overshadowed her father's pride at the moment. "You have to see it for yourself, father. His very stance radiates power, and the willingness to use it. His eyes could set your spirits ablaze but at the same time drown you in the coldness of the abyss. He's a warrior through and through. I feel terrified to be even consider getting near such a monster and yet can't help but long for being there just to see him unleash hell. If I hadn't stop th soldiers from attacking then he would have slain more than half of all of them easily before his defeat, or at all.

"Father, I beseach you, we cannot allow such power out of our grasp. I want to see the hell he could unleash unto our enemies."

There was silence once more as the Fire Lord contemplated his daughter's idea. Their audience keeping silent lest they acquire the Fire Lord's wrath. He had already read the reports on this prisoner long before he had called for his daughter to get her personal opinion of the incident. He knows of his daughter's love for power. It is, after all, the root of her loyalty to him. Then, making his decision. "If you really believe that he and I am the same, then how do you plan to control him? What makes you so sure you could stop him from unleashing that hell upon your own people and the Fire Nation? If what you say is true, then you know I am the Fire Lord and would never allow myself to be controlled by anyone, not even the gods themselves. Tell me, daughter, how would you try to control that of which cannot be controlled?" He demanded in anger, the fires in the throne room bursting to show his rage.

Azula was shivering now for her mistake. She had insulted her father by saying she would be able to control someone like the Fire Lord himself, that she could command a power as powerful as himself, thus telling him that she is more pwerful than Fire Lord. Such insults are punishable by only one thing: death.

She had almost flee in fear. But suddenly, she felt her hand on the hilt of Sasuke's sheated blade and remembered. Her contact with the powerful weapon reminding her of its enourmously powerful and deadly master. She remembered those blood red eyes and the sinister smile in the face of hopeless battle. She had found her resolve.

With renewed confidence, she raised her head and stared straight at the Fire Lord's eyes. With a confident smirk, she said, "I plan to offer him everything such a power would want. My loyalty. My devotion. Everything that I am."

The Fire Lord amost gasped at the proclamation. His advisers and generals actually did gasped. His daughter had just procalimed her intention to marry this man, and being princess and sole heiress of the Fire Nation, proclaimed her choice of the next Fire Lord. Looking at her eyes, he found no hesitation, just truth. She intends to have that young man replace him and would do everything in her power to do so.

For the first time in years, the Fire Lord Ozai laughed. His joyous voice echoing throughout the entire room. After a few minutes, he stopped and told her daughter, gentleness barely in his voice but it was there all the same. "Then do as you please, daughter. Nurture this power and direct them at our enemies. Watch at his side as he unleash hell on Earth. Mold such power for the glory of the Fire Nation."

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From his cell, Sasuke smirked, earning a questioning glance from the single guard watching him just outside his cell. THanks to the soul bound to the Kusanagi blade, he learned everything that have been said between the princess and the Fire Lord. He had to admit, that Azula had impressed him and more. She was telling the truth when she said she was prepared to offer him her entire being, supported by the fact that the Kusanagi had allowed her to unconsciously draw from its power.

He had to admit, he find being a Lord of an entire nation appealing, like being a Kage for a shinobi village, something the dobe always boast about.

He smiled at the thought of the dobe's reaction when he becomes a Lord of an entire Nation. He could just imagine the blond idiot whining and pouting because a nation is way bigger than a single village, then the blond would make a challange saying he will become Kage for the entire Shinobi Continent just to surpass him. And he believes the dobe would succeed and do just that.

Anyway, it was still too soon to decide what to do with the rest of his life. He's tired of a life of constant battl and spending a few months in this cell doesn't seem to be a bad idea for now. Cearing his mind, he decided to do what the dobe would do in a sityation like this: Just wing it.

Suddenly, he felt several aggressive auras heading in his direction. He raised his head just in time for the doors to open and walked in five heavyly armor set men entered. He smirked seeing their intentions.

"Shift change. We're here to relieve you." The lead soldier, a leiutenant, said to the guard named Lao, who was one of the five survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad.

Blinking, Lao said, "Um, but sir, I was ordered specifically by the princess to keep guard until her return from her dsebriefing with the Fire Lord."

"Are you questioning me, soldier?" The leiutenant threatened, his hand going to the hilt of his sword.

"O-of coarse not, sir. J-just stating my previous orders." He would have said more but he suddenly found a dagger peircing his left chest.

The soldier who had stabbed him have a nasty smirk on his face as he said, "Well, look it hee, the prisoner managed to grab a knife from his guard and kill him while trying to escape." After pulling it out, he pushed Lao unti he fell down within reach of the cell and then threw the bloody knife inside Sasuke's cell, providing false evidence of the accusation.

Another soldier took out a metal key from the slowly dying Lao's pocket to show to everyone as he said, "The prisoner was just about to escape his cell when the guard, with his dying breathe, called for help. And we arrived just in time before he could open his cell." He then threw that key on the far side of the wall behind the prisoner.

"And of coarse, to prevent the prisoner from escaping, we have to use excessive force and kill him." The leader said with a murderous grin.

All five soldiers begun their firebending dance of death. But before any of them could sprout any fire, the sitting prisoner suddenly opened his now eyes, the Mangenkyo Sharingan spinning in a deadly arc. They only had enough time to regret their decision for a split second before the prisoner utter the last word they would ever hear alive.

"Amaterasu."

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"Did anyone get the description of the tiger seal that hit me?" Sokka aske deliriously as soon as he woke up, only to see the tear streaked face of his sister inches from his own. "Um, what?"

"YOU'RE ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! THIS IS ALL YOU'RE FAULT YOU IMMATURE PRAT! IF YOU AREN'T HURT ALREADY I'D KILL YOU!" Katara said histerically, alternating from apologizing to snarling then back again, wringing his neck then crying on his chest then back again. Talk about bipolar attitudes.

"You are lucky, Sokka, that Naruto managed to save you or you would have been dead." Gran Gran said gravely fom her place nearby, nursing the unconscious blond laying beside him.

Looking around, they were once again in Kana's hut. "Okay, what's with the gloomy atmosphere? Who died?"

"You almost did you IDIOT!" SHe snarled, right before turning a teary eyed look at her brother once more as she squeaked, "And it's all my fault! Waaaahhh!"

Taking an involuntary step back, Sokka gave his sister a scoff and said casually, "Like that could ever happen!"

But instead of making her feel better, she bawled louder than before. Sighing in defeat, he said gently, "Look, Katara, you're my sister. Hurting me for my stupidity is part of the job description."

"R-really?"

Sokka actualy cringed at her teary eyed expression but continued. "Sure it is. Besides, don't you think we should focus on something more important like, say, WHY THE HELL ARE WE KEEPING THAT FIREBENDER HERE?" he snarled the last part as he pointed an accusing finger at the unconscious blond.

"Because he risked his life saving yours." Kana said diplomatically. "Besides, I don't think that technique he used was firebending."

"Fire came out of his mouth, didn't it? How can that be not firebending?" Sokka argued.

"Because in order for a firebender to produce a fire ball of that size requires a specific hand and body movement. I've seen that technique being used when the Fire Nation first attacked our village all those years ago. This young man instead used some kind of hand movement while staying stationary to do it. For a firebender, such techniques are impossible."

"What makes you say that, Gran Gran?" Katara asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Because I once helped a friend to learn firebending. He was a scholar from the Fire Nation wanting to make a research about marine animals' mating habits. He disguise himself as a soldier and snuck away when they reach the Poles."

"Who?" Sokka asked this time.

Kana chuckled and said, "Funny you should ask, Sokka, since you were named after him?"

"WHAT?" Her grandchildren shouted in unison.

"Granda Sokka is a firebender from the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked in disbelief.

"Well, he wasn't a firebender yet when we first met. He develop a need for it during our travels when we eloped." She said, her eyes glazing at the distant memories. Shaking her head, she turned back to her grandkids and said, "Anyway, there will be other times to talk about the distant past. NAruto was badly wounded when he rescued you, Sokka, so I think it would be a justifiable punishment to have you in charge of taking care of him until he is fully healed. Katara, I also need you to help your brother as much as you can. His teachings, although rather short for the moment, would benefit the tribe as a whole. He is knowledgable and have no hesitation to share that knowledge with us. Try to make sure he continue to do so."

"Gran Gran! I can't believe you'll use Naruto like that!" admonished Katara, scandalized and angry. "The Southern Water Tribe are honorable people and should not tarnish ourselves of decieving people!"

For a moment, there was silence. Katara was glaring at her grandmother and Sokka was scowling at her, making his feeling on the matter clear. Then, at her grandchildrens confusion, she smiled and said, "Well said, young Katara, Sokka. Don't you agree, Naruto?"

"Hai, Kana-obaa-san." Said the previously thought sleeping Naruto.

"You were awake the whole time?" asked both Sokka and Katara in surprise.

"Yes. Just tired so me not move. Kana-obaa-san know me awake for while." He said, sitting up with a groan with the help of Kana.

Sokka, being the first of the two siblings to find his voice, immediately scowled and said, "Look, blondie, I appreciate you trying to teach me but you have no obligation to do that just because we helped you out."

Katara, her own scowl in place, nodded and said, "That's right. Me and my people don't need to be paid back for saving someone's life."

Naruto smiled at that as he said, "Good. Now know you not abuse power. Get rest. Tommorow you both start very early."

With that, he fell back to bed and asleep within seconds, the siblings looking at him in confusion.

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Azula finally sighed in relief as soon as she stepped out of the throne room. It was quite scary confronting her father and the rest of the generals like that but in the end, she got what she wanted.

"Well, well, look who it is. If it isn't our newly bethroted Fire Princess." Came the familiar voice.

Turning, she saw something that actually made her smile, her childhood friends Mai and Ty Lee walking towards her.

Ty Lee quickly ran towards he and gave her a huge hug as she said in her usualy bubbly voice, "I can't believe you'd get yourself bethroted like that! It's, like, totally awesome!"

Mai nodded her head and said in her usually flat tone, "I can't believe you actually had the guts to proclaim your decision like that, especially in front of the Fire Lord."

Azuala smiled and gave Mai a short hug as well as she said, "I can't believe I did that either. You guys wouldn't believe how intimidating that is. And how the heck did you guys knew about it so fast?"

As all three started to walk away from the throne room, Mai answered, "You forget, Azula, that gossip travels faster than sound within the palace. By this time tommorow, everyone in the nation would have heard about your bethrotal."

"So spill. Who is this guy that made you all hot and bothered and is he cute?" Ty Lee asked excitedly.

"Well, if you guys really want to know, I'm heading to see him right now. You could decide on your own if he's cute or not. Just remember one thing."

"Oh? What's that?" They asked in unison.

"He's mine." She declaired with passion, earning a giggle fom her fiends. Soon enough, all three are giggling like little girls.

Their laughter suddenly halted when a panicking soldier appeared and kneeled in front of the princess. "Your highness, there is troubling situation at the dungeons."

Sensing the urgency of the news, the princess immediately dashed towards the dungeons, her fiends just a step behind her.

As soon as she arrive, she was greeted with the sight of chaos as several soldiers tried to extinguish some sort of black flames horribly consuming the life of two soldiers near Sasuke's cell. She could already see dead bodies of three other soldiers still burning with black flames nearby. The other souldiers keep trying to throw buckets of water at the two falming soldiers but no matter how many water they poured the flames still continued to burn them alive.

Soon enough, with a last anguish cry, the two soldiers died and the flames suddenly disappeared.

"W-what happened? Where did that black flame came from?" Ty lee asked, horrified at the stench of the dead soldiers.

Instead of answering, Azula briskly walk twardds Sasuke's cell. Several soldiers tried to tell her it wasn't safe but a glare from her moved them aside. Not even giving the dead bodies a second glance, she entered the cell, her friends a step behind her, to see Sasuke out of his prison tending the injury of the downed soldier who was guarding him.

"Sasuke, what did you do?" Azula asked, staring straight at him.

"P-princess Azula . . . t-those men t-tried to . . .cough . . . tried t-to frame t-the prisoner . . . cough . . . s-so they c-could e-execute him." The downed soldier named Lao siad in between coughs of blood. Soon enough, his injuries got the better of him and he breath his last, his eyes staring at Sasuke as he died.

Sasuke, his face still emotionless, merely stare at Lao as he died. Using his hand, he clsed the dead soldier's eyes before turning his onyx gaze at Azula, almost making her weak at the knees. Tehn, he walk back towards his cell and closed it behind him.

Seeing the chaos is now over, Azula ordered to the rest of the soldiers, "Get these men out of here. I want to know exactly what happened and the people behind it. Have the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad to guard the prisoner and no one else. Anyone who try to say otherwise are to be arrested and be brought to me immediately."

As soon as the men went to obey those orders, Azula turned to Sasuke and said, "Why didn't you escape. With all your skills you could have done so easily."

For a moment, he didn't answer. She was about to ask again when he finally said, "What for? There is no one out there I need to see. Besides, why would I leave my bethroted behind?"

His sudden smirk actually made Azula blush a feirce red, thinking gossips really travels faster than sound in the palace.

"But make no mistake, Azula-hime, I don't need weaklings on my side. If you really intend to offer yourself to me, then make sure you would be able to keep up."

Azula's eyes almost bugged out at the threat hidden between the lines. Either become strong as he is or be left behind. And Azula would never let herself be left behind. But how could she keep up with a power she knows nothing about?

Then, an idea hit her. It was so brilliant that she almost laugh out loud. After giving Sasuke her most intense stare, she dropped on her knees in front of him and proclaimed loudly, "Train me. Take me as your student. Allow me a place by your side when you finally take your place as the future Fire Lord."

Mai and Ty Lee gasped at their friend's proclamation. Even they could see how serious she is. Looking at each other, they gave each other a nod and kneeled beside their bestfriend.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that. The girl really is serious about making him the next Fire Lord. And her two friends seems to have decided to support her on it. He poured out amoderately strong killing intent directly at the three girls. He saw them shiver but they held their place. So they are prepared to offer their life. Impressed, he cancelled the killing intent and told them, "Then come to me in a weeks time for your first lesson, student. Now leave me to my rest."

When the three saw him turn his back on them, they nodded and left with the intention to return at th said time.

As soon as they came out of the dungeons, all three of them almost collapsed on their knees, their breathing labored.

"I-I see what you mean when you said he reminds you of your father, Azula." Mai said her voice with a combination of fear and excitement, sweat pouring out of her face.

"Y-yeah. I mean, t-that was so scary and addicting at the same time." Ty Lee agreed, almost squeaking.

"And we are going to learn how to do that. Just imagine the power we would soon weild." The princess said, excitement in her voice.

"He's powerful." Mai said.

"He's our next Fire Lord." Agreed Azula.

"And he's gorgeous." Ty Lee squealed. When her two friends gave her a look, she huffed and said, "Well, he IS! Didn't you see that pretty face, sultry lips, and firm ass?"

Her friends had no choice but to agree. He is actually gorgeous. All three blushed and soon enough, they were all giggling like love struck school girls.

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A/N: To all my reviewers. Don't fret. My other stories would be updated soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Darn it!" Sokka cursed as he deflected the three ice needles hurled at him. Releasing a burst of chakra from the bottom of his feet, he propelled himself at least ten feet up in the air to avoid the follow up attack of a localized water tsunami.

Before he could even begin to fall, his sister was suddenly there with the intention of smacking him with a well timed flying kick to the head. Too bad it didn't connect since Sokka managed to flip himself in midair and scissor kicked her sister in the chin.

He thought he had her but when both of them hit the ground, Katara's body suddenly exploded into water. He cursed again when he had to perform a split to avoid a kick to the back of the head. From that position, he made a sweeping leg kick but his agile sister managed to jump away unharmed.

Quickly pulling himself up, he turned to face his sister again, cursing once more upon seeing that there are three of them. That Mizu Bushin is really starting to get on his nerves. He scowled seeing all three of them giving him a smug smirk.

Throwing away his boomerang, he pulled his bone staff from his back and charged his three identical opponents with a loud battle cry. Two of the three charged him as well while one stayed behind. As he neared them, he purposely slid on the ice to avoid a body tackle from the first Katara before throwing his staff like a spear to hit the Katara that stayed behind. It would have hit if her water clone didn't moved herself to sheild the one in the back, bursting into water upon impact but still managing to stop the momentum of the staff.

Sokka didn't even have time to curse when he was tackled from behind by the earlier clone, forcing him on the icy ground, pinning his arms behind him and sitting on his back to prevent him from escaping.

"I win, Sokka." The Katara holding him down said in his ear with a smug grin.

Relaxing his body, Sokka gave out a defeated sigh and asked, "You're the real Katara, right?"

"Yup. I knew you were going for the one that stays back thinking that was the real me." She boasted proudly, slightly relaxing her hold on him.

"That's good." He said with his own smug grin before suddenly rolling both of them to the right, just in time to avoid the boomerang that had embedded itself on the same spot they've been on mere seconds ago right after it sliced through the remaining water clone.

Soon enough, it was Sokka who's pinning her down and sitting on her back. She tried to escape but Sokka wouldn't let her. "Looks like you spoke too soon, Katara."

She tried struggling a little more but Sokka have no intention of letting her go. "No fair! I already had you pinned." After several minutes more of futile struggling, KAtara finally relented and said, "Fine. You win this time. Now get off of me you overweight doofus."

"Good spar, you two." Came NAruto's familiar voice. Turning to the right, both saw him walking down from a nearby snow hill with all of the village's kids with him. The kids seems quite excited and kept talking about the mock fight.

"Arigato, Naruto-sensei." Both siblings said with a respectful bow. "But he still cheated! I had him pinned first." Katara whined loudly pointing an accusing finger at her brother.

"Hah! You're just sore because I'm so awesome." Boasted the young teen.

Instead of answering them, Naruto turned to the kids and asked, "So, would anyone like to tell me how Sokka won this time?"

"Hah! I told you!" Shouted Sokka with a smug grin.

One of the kids raised her hand and said, "Um, he tricked Katara-nee-chan at the end?"

"That's right. Katara is clearly the more powerful of the two." NAruto lectured, earning a "Hah! In your face, Sokka!" from Katara. Ignoring the outburst, he continued saying, "But Sokka used his head and made good use of tactics to trick her with his boomerang in the end." That earned a "Hah! In Your face, Katara!" from Sokka. "Despite the fact that he's been on the defensive the entire time." That deflated the said boy's ego immediately and now both sibling are pouting.

"Always remember, class. The best way to win againts a more powerful opponent is by tricking them. Use evasive tactics and figure out strategies that would be best suited to either earn victory or earn yourself enough time to escape. Understand?"

"Hai, Naruto-sensei!" The kids answered in unison.

"Alright. Now everyone back to the village. You have choirs to do this afternoon." He said pointing his finger at the several blocks away. The kids groaned but did as he asked, walking away in groups chatting about the spar. He then turned to the two teens and said, "You guys did good."

"Yeah. But not good enough. I still can't do more than two Mizu Bushin at once, three if I push hard enough. And I only have three waterbending techniques that could actually be used in a fight." Katara mumbled disappointedly.

"Oh stop being an emo. At least you have waterbending techniques. All I have are the basics and glacier climbing. I can't even waterbend like you so don't think for a second you're getting any symphaty from me." Sokka argued.

NAruto merely shook his head in exasperation. It has been six months since he started teaching them and the rest of the village as much as he can about shinobi arts, his native language, and even a few customs from his homeland. The Southern Water Tribe have made great leaps in their learning. Almost everyone in the village could speak his native language passable enough to understand.

He had kept his words at taking Sokka and Katara as his personal students. They have learn much in the past six months. Mostly about unargumented taijutsu, weapons training, trap building, etc. Considering not one of them have any concept of chakra whatsoever, it took almost four months of gruelling physical conditioning and meditations to bring out the siblings' chakra. It took another month to build their chakra stores large enough to begin teaching them ninjutsu techniques.

After clearing his throat loudly to get his students' attention back on him before they could start another argument, he then said, "Anyway, we have something new to learn today so follow me." before walking towards the village.

Both brother and siste perked up at that as they followed.

"So what are we going to learn today?" Katara asked excitedly.

"Is it a new attack using wind like you used last week?" Sokka asked immediately.

"How about that water dragon you used yesterday?"

"Or maybe that cool tornado thing you did two days before?"

Naruto remained silent as he led them to shore, allowing them to ask question after question with growing excitement.

"It's something that would be very very useful once you master it." He said as he kept walking followed by the two.

This excited the two greatly that they actually skipped towards them, something Naruto was aiming for. As he kept walking, he said, "It's a very simple technique but quite difficult to master. This technique is called. . ."

**SPLASH**

**SPLASH**

Sokka and Katara spluttered up the surface of the water where they fell from, looking up at the smug looking Naruto standing on top of the water as he finished saying, "Water Walking. And by the way, I'd suggest stripping into your swim wear since winter coats are quite heavy when wet."

Both teen's eyes were as wide as saucers as their teacher just stood there atop the water surface. They never thought such thing would be possible but there he was somehow preventing himself from sinking like any normal person would have.

An hour later, all three found themselves inside Gran Gran's hut, enjoying the warmth of the kindling fire set in the center of the tent as Kana handed each of her shivering grandkids a cup of warm tea which they greatfully accepted.

"ACHOO! You're an evil evil man." Sokka, wearing at least three layers of fur blankets, groaned after a very big sneeze. Luckily he had a towel ready to blow his nose with.

Naruto, still in his blue winter coat that Kana gave him all those months ago, merely shryg his shoulder as he calmly sip on his tea as he said, "Well, I did offer you a chakra transfer to get warm but you refused."

"I don't do hugs, specially with other people of the same gender. It's just not manly." Sokka argued before giving off another huge sneaze.

Katara, who had been silently sipping on her tea and avoiding looking anywhere near the blond young man, mumbled softly, "It wasn't so bad."

But it seems it wasn't soft enugh because Sokka managed to hear her and argued, "Of course you wouldn't think it's anywhere near as bad since you finally got the chance to glomp him!"

"I don't have any idea what you mean." She stated.

"You had your arms around him." He deadpanned.

"I was merely maximazing the effects of the chakra transfer since it requires close bodily contact."

"Your hand was on his ass cheek!"

"It was cold so I didn't know where my hand landed during the chakra transfer."

"You were squeashing."

"A perfectly normal involuntary action on my part."

"You were purring and I thought that was humanly impossible."

"Am not! I just got something on my throat at the time."

"You shouted 'Take me' in his face by the end of the training."

Katara opened her mouth for comeback but none came, earning a scoff from her brother and a muffled chuckle from her grandmother. She couldn't figure out why she actually did the things she did and she almost fainted then and there due to all the blood rushing to her face. If her blush doesnt abate soon, she'll blush redder than the Fire Nation's flag. Her grandmother wasn't saying anything but she could see her desperately trying to hold her laughter. Luckily fo her, Naruto decided to intervene before her brother embarass he more.

"Chakra transfer could easily affect the recifient in a variety of ways. One of such is having the recifient experience a sudden rush of adrenalin and other body chemicals that momentarily causes one's body to act as if inhiberated. In other words, she somehow got drunk with chakra and may not be aware of what she was doing at the time."

"T-that's right. I was drunk so I didn't knew what I was doing." Katara immediately said after him.

"Riiiiiiiight. Like I'll believe that." Sokka deadpanned, giving his blushing sister a half lidded glare, causing their grandmother to finally let out a high pitch laughter she was holding.

"S-shut up, Sokka!" Fortunately for Katara's sanity, Naruto didn't react much except sip his tea in silence, but there was still a slight hint of a blush on his cheeks.

Naruto cleared his throat loudly and when all attention was on him he said, "Anyway, tommorow you'll be practicing the technique again. This time, I'll only be doing a chakra transfer no more than three times. The day after that I'll only do two. And after that only once. If after that and you still can't do the technique then you'll have to rough it out. And by th way, Sokka, technically, I don't need to hug you to do a chakra transfer. Placing my hand on the back of your neck is enough."

Katara tried to hide her disappointed pout and failed miserably while Sokka was complaining why he wasn't told earlier. Kana was chuckling at her grandchildren's antics. She had to be blind not to see that Katara have a huge crush on the blond teen. KAna had talked about it with NAruto but the blond teen was sure it would just go away on its own, although Kana had her doubts about that. And despite Sokka's casual attitude towards Naruto, his actions speaks of his respect for his teacher.

An hour later, when her grankids, as well as most of the village, are asleep, she followed the young man outside. He had this certain habit to sit by the top of the village walls at night and look at the stary sky whenever he couldn't sleep, like what's been happening quite often this past couple of days.

Naruto, sitting at his usua spot, felt the old woman approach. She gave her a smile which she returned as she sat beside him. For several minutes, neither said a word, both content at staring at the moonless night sky.

"You've felt it too, haven't you." It was more of a statement than a question, and NAruto understood it.

"Yeah." The blond man answered seriously. "Something bad is coming and I feel responsible for it somehow."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But you're doing your best to prepare us for it. All the children that you had been teaching are already manifesting their chakra and my grandchildren, especially, are becoming very powerful warriors through your tutelage."

"But what if it's not enough? What if whatever is out there is more than they could handle? Sokka have potential but he's still very rough around the edges. Katara' true potential is in her waterbending but I can't teach her something I myself have no idea about. The children would soon be ready for basic shinobi studies but it would take years bnefore they are even proficient enough to go toe to toe with normal thugs. I don't like the idea of you guys facing whatever it is out there on your own after I leave."

"The Southern Water Tribe will endure like it has or hundred of years. I know of your plan to leave someday and although it would pain me to see newest part of my family go, your destiny lies somewhere out there. You shouldn't burden yourself of us because we are survivors. The best you can do is keep doing what you're doing for the moment. Make our children strong so they would have a better chance to pend for themselves."

There was silence once more as Naruto took in Kana's words. Then, he gave the old woman a grateful smile and said, "Thanks, Kana-obaa-san."

There was nothing else to say. Naruto's original plan remains. He still plan to leave, but not bfore teaching the village as much as he can. He plans to search for a way home. And he still plan to face whatever it is the is coming and figure out why he feels its connected to it somehow.

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Fire Nation soldiers at the palace docking bay stare in awe as Princess Azula and her two friends engage themselves in a three way all out brawl. Not only are the three females exerting deadly amount of combat skills, but all three are doing it on the surface of the water several meters off the docks without sinking into its watery depth.

"KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" Azula shouted as she sprouted a fire ball almost as big as herself at her two friends who jumped out of the way.

While airborn, Mai took out a small scroll from her hidden pockets and spread them open before pouring a significant amount of chakra into it. Hundreds of throwing needles shot out of the said scroll and made a ballistic arc towards Azula and the landing Ty Lee.

The soldiers cringed when Ty Lee was riddled with at least a dozen needles on every part of her body and collapse, only to be surprised when Ty Lee puffed into smoke only to be replaced by a piece of driftwood.

They were more surpised when Ty Lee appeared underneat where Mai landed and gave the weapons girl a kick to the chin, ropelling the girl upward. Ty Lee immediately followed her airborn friend and shouted, "SHI SHI RENDAN!" as she pummeled the other girl with several combination of kicks in mid air.

Too bad for Ty Lee that Mai turned out to be the same drift wood that she replaced herself earlier. "Darn. A Kawarimi." Then, she suddeny felt a blade from behind very close to her neck.

"Yeild." Mai said smugly with a smirk, which disappeared immediately when she felt another blade on her throat.

"You yeild." Azula said smugly from behind as she held a dagger on Mai's neck.

Both girls frown suddenly when Ty Lee disappeared in a puff of smoke and another Ty Lee suddenly burst out of the water between them, placing an explosive tag on each of their legs. "Hah! I win."

Both girls gave her a glare that she returned with a smug look as she said, "Uh-uh, girls. We wouldn't like your legs getting blown off, do you. One wrong move and I let go, thus activating the tags."

"Darn. It was a Bushin." Mai scowled.

"You do realize this would mean swift retribution, Ty Lee." Azula threatened as she glare at the bubbly girl.

Ty Lee merely gave her two scowling friends a smug grin in reply.

Suddenly, all three girls turn to the side, where Hien, a survivor of the Fifth Boarder Patrol and part of Sasuke's guards, appeared in a swirl of leaves on top of the water. All members of the Fifth have been trained by Sasuke in order for them to survive the numerous assassination attempts on his life.

"Princess Azula." Hien saluted.

"What is it, Hien?" She asked seriously, knowing that the only reason Sasuke's guards would interup their training is when something concerning Sasuke himself is about to happen.

"Your highness, we have recieved orders just now to escort Sasuke-sensei to the Fire Lord." Hein said, earning a gasp frm the three girls.

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Sasuke walked through the door of the throne room like he owned the place, his guard escorts, the four survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol, at his side. Heeding no mind at most of the assembled generals looking at him with supressed rage. After six whole months held in self-inflicted captivity, the Fire Lord finally decided to meet him. Don't get him wrong, he could have walked out a free man anytime he wanted to, Princess Azula had made sure to get pardon for his crimes, but he couldn't be persuaded to leave his cell. When one folish general decided to interogate him, all twenty of his guards didn't even realize something was wrong until their commanding officer fell to the floor, his head rolling away from his body. All they saw Sasuke do is generate a ball of lightning on his hand before it dissipitate a second later.

That was just the first of several other attempted murder on him. Azula tied to interfere on his behalf but Sasuke told her not to interfere. She made her complaint to the Fire Lord but he basically said the same thing, let those fools try and do not interfere. As conpensation, he woud ignore the deaths of the ones who tried.

She need not worry since Sasuke had dealth with every and all attempts on his life. The ony time he had left his cell is when he went after the masterminds. At least one high level official would die publicly in the most gruesome of ways whenever he left his cell. The other generals tried to set him againts rivals and such but Sasuke always managed to kill the real culprit no matter how elaborate their plan is. And after he was done, he would return to his cell and stay there.

Sasuke reached the bottom steps on the throne and his guards kneeled in front of the Fire Lord as he stay standing, his eyes staring straight at the man.

Most of the Fire Lord's advisors tried to berate him for showing such disrespect but Sasuke and the Fire Lord heed them no mind.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, earning him several angry protests and threats from the said advisors.

Instead of reprimanding the stoic teen, he raised his hand to indicate silence, which the assembled people there obeyed immediately. Then, with a voice that broke no argument, he ordered, "Everyone else, leave."

The assembled advisors tried to protest but a burst of killing intent from the Fire Lord stopped those protests dead in their tracks. They left the room quickly and soon the only people left in the room are the Fire Lord, Sasuke, and the four guards.

"That includes you, daughter, and your friends." The Fire Lord said a moment later.

Three puffs of smoke obscured three of Sasuke's guard except for Zhun-se. When the smoke cleared, there in the place of the guards are Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai. Azula, with the sheated Kusanagi Blade tied on her back, was just about to protest in being included in the meeting but a look from Sasuke prevented her from getting any word out. She was about to try again but Ty Lee and Mai decided to drag her out of the throne room as fast as they can. Zhun-se followed the girls out.

As soon as the two were alone, the Fire Lord stood up from his elevated throne and said one thing, "Come."

Sasuke followed th man out into a side door silently. They walk through empty hallways and climb several sets of stairs for several minutes until they came out a small beautifully decorated garden on the top of the tallest of the palace towers. In the middle of the garden, surrounded by patches of well maintained grass, is an open daias with a small tea table in the middle and two sitting pillows.

The Fire Lord sat at one end and indicated Sasuke to take the other. As soon as both had sat, a young servant girl bought a tea set and placded it on the table before leaving again with a bow to the two men.

The Fire Lord gracefully poured himself and Sasuke on the two simple decorated cups provided and offered one to Sasuke who took it calmly. Both men sip their own tea silently while enjoying the great view from their spot.

After several minutes of comfortable silence, the Fire Lord finally broke it by saying, "You have trained my daughter well."

There was several minutes of silence until Sasuke nodded and said, "But not enough to face what is to come. At least not yet."

"So you know of the coming storm?"

"I am. And it would get worse."

"Yes, I agree. I've already recieve several incidents about strange animals appearing in the wild and of a few reports about monsters slaughtering men in and out of my lands. For the moment, it is a minor neiusance. But as you said, it would get worse in time."

"Your people needs to prepare or else they will be ill equipt to face them. They need training."

"Would you provide my people with this needed training?"

"I will teach the guards assigned to me. They, in turn, will train the rest. Azula-hime and her friends will be personally trained by me."

The Fire Lord nodded at that, expressing his gratitude without saying anything at all.

"Have my daughter ever mentioned Prince Zuko?"

"Rarely." Sasuke said flatly before a smirk adjourned his face. "A crappy way to teach him of the strength of one's resolve, though."

Ozai was impressed. This young man is smarter than Azula ever said he was. With limited information, he had analyzed and discover the true meaning of his son's exile.

"If he is to rule after me then he must be prepared to meet each and every opposition head on with out mercy, even if he's to go againts his own father." The Fire Lord nodded with a small scowl that disappeared immediately to be replaced by the calmness the Fire Lord had been displaying the entire time.

"How many did you sent to support him?"

"None as of the moment. My uncle, a former general, would keep him alive for the time being. How long before the captain of your guards is effecient enough to teach?"

"Too long to consider. I suggest you send one of Azula's friends after four months."

"Which one do you suggest?"

Sasuke gave the other man a smirk as he said, "The one eavesdropping on our conversation." He then turned sharply to the side, where a small squeak was heard over the edge of the tower.

Soon enough, Ty Lee climb onto the small garden. She ginned sheepishly at the two powerful men, hoping to minimize her punishment. When that didn't seem to work, she hung her head and bowed low enough for her head to touch the floor in front of them.

The Fire Lord gave Sasuke a raised eyebrow, silently asking how she managed to climb all the way up the tower.

Answering he said, "Tree Climbing. A simple technique to increase control of the body's spiritual energy. Allows anyone to walk on any solid horizontal surfaces. She is also the most proficient in energy suppression as of today so you didn't felt her presence."

"I see." He said nodding at Sasuke before addressing Ty Lee herself, "I do hope, young lady, that you are someone who values discreetion?"

"A-as you command, M-my Lord. N-No one else w-would ever hear of your c-conversation." She said silently, shaking like a leaf.

The Fire Lord nodded before turning back to Sasuke. "I thank you for your time, Sasuke Uchiha. I hope we could have other conversations like this in the future."

Sasuke knew a dismissal when he hears one. He gave the other man a nod before silently leaving through the door, the nervous Ty Lee following silently behind him.

As they reach the bottom of the fifth flight of stairs, the two were met by his guards, the princess, Mai, a few dozen guards, and the assembled advisors demanding to know what had happened while Ty Lee was immediately grabbed by Azula and Mai for her own interogation.

A wide spread potent killing intent had silenced everyone cold. He felt a small amount of pride seeing Zhun-se, her men, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee fighting off the suppressing aura. With his killing intent pouring out, the assembled men parted like the Red Sea as he walked out of there followed by his guards and his three students.

As soon as they were out of ear shot, he reigned in his killer intent and addressed the seven people following him. "Six months. All of you are going to be put through the most intense traing you will ever get in the next six months."

Everyone gulped at that. Sasuke's current training regimen is already quite tough. They just hope they survive the coming six months.

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A/N: This is a filler chapter before the start of the actual series in Avatar. Azula does sound a bit OOC but that would end real soon.

Thanks to all those who review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: To my reviewrs and readers, I humbly apologize for taking so long. Suffice to say, my writer's block had been a major one. Anyway, I'll be starting to update all my stories in a little bit and here's a short one as a prelude for things to come.

**CHAPTER 4**

"That young man is becoming an obstacle to our plans." An old man said to the rest of the meeting room. There are five other men of almost the same age with him.

They were the last remaining heads of the Order of Flames, a secret underworld organization within the Fire Nation. For fifty years this group had been trying to take subtle control of the country, placing their members in key position in politics and the military structure. They were just twenty years away from total control until some of their members made a mistake of trying to use a certain young man as their tool.

"Yes." Agreed another man with a frown. "His influence over Princess Azula already makes assassinating him would require very subtle hands."

Another man nodded his head and said, "The Fire Lord himself hinted that he would allow anyone to try to either kill or use him as long as there won't be any evidence to point our involvement, but that damn man always seems to figure out how to trace the ones that had masterminded the attempt on his life before retaliating in kind."

"The Fire Lord himself doesn't seem to care either way about him for the moment and it mostly the princess that goes investigate the deaths after each failed assassination attempts."

"I am starting to believe on the speculation that he have the ability to read peoples minds." Another said.

"But if he did, then why doesn't he strike those connected to the ones that ordered his death?" The first man said.

"He seems to have the perverse amusement of only cutting down the ones that made a move against him."

"That is a very distressing news, and at the same time, quite fortunate for us. As long as we don't try to kill him, he won't go after us."

"No. We can not let him gain more influence that he already has. Team Hawk, previously known as the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad, had been getting too powerful under his tutelage. The Fire Lord himself had made an example on one of our brothers when he tried to assassinate them. Going after them would earn us the Fire Lord's wrath."

"Agreed. He believes those four is essential to the Fire Nation's military advancement."

"But I also believe the second greatest threat to our group would be Princess Azula herself and her personal elites. It is fortunate one of her lackeys had been sent on a mission out of the boarders a month ago."

"It's a shame the princess would have to die somewhere in the future. If it wasn't for the influence of that man, we could have easily maneuvered around her to gain control. But now she is becoming too powerful too fast."

"Agreed. But what about her comrade in arms, namely Ty Lee and Mai?"

"They are of no consequence without the princess to back them up, merely annoyances that could easily be taken care of . . . UGH!." He was cut off by the blade of a dagger that was sticking out of his throat.

"I resent that remark." Said Mai who was suddenly standing behind the dying man, her hand still holding the dagger.

The rest of the men jumped out of their seats, most of them calling for their guards, only to pale further when Princess Azula entered the room, one hand holding the Kusanagi Blade while the other was holding a severed head. There was blood all over her sword and hands. "Sorry about your guards but I was feeling a bit stabby since this morning. And by the way, Colonel Mao sends his regards." She then threw the severed head of the said colonel at their feet. "He was such a blabber mouth when properly motivated and provided quite a lot of dirt on your entire group."

The men paled at that. Mao had been under their organization's payroll for years now and was a very tenacious man. They don't know how they managed to get the information out of him, so much as how they managed to find out his connection to them, but they didn't have much time to contemplate such things because at that moment, Azula charged, giving out a maniacal laughter at the slaughter, while Mai made sure none of them escape.

Standing on the roof just across the building where the slaughter was taking place, Sasuke can't help but frown. Beside him are all four members of Team Hawk, formerly known as the survivors of the Fifth Boarder Patrol Squad, namely Zhun-se, Ming, Dei Lo, and Hien, all of which are sporting a grimace upon seeing the dead bodies on the street left behind by the assault done by Princess Azula and her subordinate, Mai.

Sasuke frown as the Kusanagi sends him images of what's happening inside the building. It was one thing to kill the mastermind and the people that shared the same view, but she didn't just stop there. She had killed even the maids and other house workers. Normally, it wouldn't have bothered him, but this time, Azula had made a grievous mistake, a mistake he would shove down her throat after this incident.

Thanks to the Kusanagi, he knew Azula had been reverting back to her old self before he came along, thinking that she's already near the apex of her powers and had been itching to measure her capacity. This unsanctioned attack just proves it. He had to smirk at that. Once she is finished, he'll show her just how weak she really is.

"That's all of them." Mai said in her usual apathetic tone as she secure the documents on her hands. It took a while to gather all the evidence they needed to convict the Order of the Flames organization within the building.

Azula, who had been staring at the bloody Kusanagi blade the entire time, merely nodded. Mai frowned at that. Whatever it is her friend is thinking, it must be something she wouldn't like to know about. She had seen death before, but Azula's maniacal smile during her kills made even her a bit green.

"How was your first kill?" Mai asked suddenly.

It was then that Azula finally turned to her. Mai had to use all her training not to show any emotion at that maniacal bloody grin as Azula answered, "Exquisite."

Mai nodded and both left the premises, only to stop dead on their tracks when Sasuke and Team Hawk suddenly jumped down in front of them.

Mai grimace at that. She should have known better than to think Sasuke wouldn't know about their unsanctioned assault. Azula, on the other hand, grinned wider, adrenaline still pumping into her system.

"Sasuke-sensei." Both girls greeted.

"Did you see it, Sasuke-sensei? The power you bestowed upon us?" Azula said giddily, like a proud little girl. "Isn't it wonderful? So beaut . . . AHG!" She gagged and fell on her knees as the sword she was holding suddenly turned into a snake that coiled around her neck and arms, its head hissing dangerously near her nose.

Mai took an involuntary step back. She knew better than to overstep their boundaries, particularly when using the skills Sasuke had taught them, but Azula wouldn't even think twice about destroying her if she went against the princess. She did try to persuade her but Azula was dead set on testing her capacity.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and the snake loosen up enough to let Azula breath. She was sweating now, fear and confusion evident in her voice. She was about to ask what she had done wrong but a frown from her teacher derailed her words before she could utter them.

He then turned to Team Hawk and gave a nod. They moved immediately to carry out a pre given order, Mai and Azula looking in confusion. Team Hawk took the dead bodies on the street and brought them inside the building. Then, they started carrying out bodies from the inside. Mai cringed at seeing that said bodies are of those servants and maids that Azula had also killed with the other members of Order of Flames.

It took half an hour but Team Hawk finished gently laying the servant's dead bodies on the street. There were six of them, such a small amount compared to the fifteen or more dead servants of the forty members of the Order piled inside the building.

Throughout all this, Azula look on in fear and confusion. Why is Sasuke so angry at her killing a bunch of servants? Sasuke himself had killed numerous servants of the people that had tried to assassinate him before so what made these six any different?

Confusion finally over riding her fear, she asked loudly, "What have I done wrong, Sasuke-sensei?"

Instead of answering, Sasuke kneeled down near one of the bodies and raised the dead servant girl's blouse just enough to show the cuff marks on her ankle. He did the same with the other bodies and all the victims have similar cuff marks, which are all seems to be recently enduced.

Mai cringed at seeing the significance of the cuff marks. They were slaves. These six people aren't serving under the Order of Flames because they want to, it's because they were forced to. They had merely been in the wrong place at the wrong time. In other words, they were innocents, and Azula had killed them all.

Azula was sweating now. She knew Sasuke wouldn't bat an eye at killing the guilty, but he detests involving innocent people, something she had done unknowingly because she rushed in there without checking it out.

Sasuke raised his hand and the snake uncoiled itself from Azula only to reform into a sword in his hand. Then, he walked past the heavily breathing princess until he was but a few feet away in front of the building. He plunge the sword into the ground before turning back to the said building.

Doing several hand seals faster than the eye could see, he said "KATON: KARYUUEDAN!" and a dragon entire made out of flames poured out of his mouth.

Everyone was awed at the sight as the dragon gets bigger and bigger as it gains altitude. Pretty soon, it was the size of a train. A second after it reached it's maximum size, it swooped down straight into the building, destroying it in seconds in the most intense heat the Fire Nation natives have ever seen or felt their whole lives.

The Order building was turned to ash in seconds, the only things left of it are a few stone foundations that was mostly melted halfway after the fire dragon disipitate on its own.

The Fire Nation natives were in shock. Such precise use of fire is impossible. None of the nearby buildings were touched. Truly, this man's power is enormous.

Azula was humbled once more. She thought her current power was enormous already. But she was wrong, dead wrong. Sasuke had shown her she is still weak in comparison to him. In her arrogance, she had made a mistake. Her mistake had cost the death of six innocents.

Sasuke walked over to Azula to stare her down, his sword once again glinting dangerously on his hand, all the blood that once adorned it mysteriously gone. Azula, in a move of submission, lowered her head, her friend Mai quickly kneeling beside her in the same posture.

After several minutes of intense silence, he said in that same aphatetic tone, "You are to fix this mess personally, just you and Mai, no one else." Both girls nodded at the said punishment. They are to bury these people manually, something a princess like her see far below her station but must do anyway if they want Sasuke to continue to teach them. "I don't want to see either of you for the next 6 months. Am I clear?"

_"How dare he? I am the Princess of Fire Nation! He can't held me to learn such a powerful new technique!"_ Azula shouted in her mind, boiling in rage, though she kept her outer self passive.

Both girls tried to protest but his stern glare stopped their protest in their tracks. An entire six months off of training after seeing a technique like that would be cruel indeed. A month for every innocent they had killed. But they know they must obey. Finally, both girls bowed their heads and said in unison, "Yes, Sasuke-sensei."

Sokka had known this day would come. He had prepared himself for it as best he can, and thus promised himself to face such dilemma like a true warrior of the Southern Water Tribe.

"PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE, NARUTO-SENSEI!"

"Sokka," Naruto said tiredly, massaging the bridge of his nose. " . . .please let go of my foot."

They were by the shore at the moment, Sokka preventing him from climbing into the small boat anchored nearby that he was going to use.

"B-but you can't leave! The soldiers are just starting to get the hang of using their chakra in battle. Katara and I are still having trouble with our controls." When his teacher gave a raised eyebrow, he immediately relented and said, "Okay, I'm still having trouble with my control."

Taking pity on the other teen, Naruto said, "Look, Sokka, you're already better trained than me when I was your age. All you need now is a little more refinement and you'll be set. As I promised, you're already the strongest warrior in the village, second to Katara, of course. Besides, the soldiers need a capable leader, and that's you."

"But you'll be gone! In case you didn't notice, you're the only other dude here beside me in our age group. Who else am I going to have manly talks with?"

Shaking his head fondly at the amusing boy, he turned to the rest of the children and said, "Kids, DOGFILE ON SOKKA!"

Like a well oiled machine, the kids grinned, cheered loudly, and jumped on top of the surprised boy, eliciting a gasp from said boy, making him let go of Naruto, who chuckled at Sokka's disgruntled face.

Gran Gran, and the rest of the villagers, can't help but shook their head at Sokka's pathetic display. Everyone had been told a month in advance that Naruto plans to finally set out into the world. Most of the villagers didn't react well to that, particularly the kids, especially her grandkids.

At least her grand daughter seems to be faring better, although the silent treatment is a bit strange for Katara's usual attitude. She may just be growing up. . .

"And Katara. . ." Naruto said as he suddenly created a Kage Bushin and had it grab one of the paddles of his canoe. The Kage Bushin handed the paddle to the original before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Then, NAruto started shaking the puddle, until it poof into smoke to reveal a henged and pouting Katara wearing a fully packed traveling bag. "Nice try but you aint coming either."

. . . then again, maybe her granddaughter is just more cunning than her brother.

The old woman watch as the Katara standing beside her dissolved into water before turning a flat glare at her still pouting granddaughter in the blond shinobi's hand. "Now, now, Katara-chan, you know the 'Puppy Eyes' no jutsu doesn't work on me."

"It's just not fair, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto sighed and said, "I know. But you know why I have to go."

Everyone in hearing range sobered at those words. It wasn't a secret anymore that something strange is going on in the rest of the world. Words from traders tell stories of strange beasts popping up everywhere, killing people and destroying homes. One prime example of it is the oogpa that started appearing nearby. They were large ape like creatures, native to Naruto's world, the adults of which come about 8 feet tall with furs of pure white, and very vicious. Its babies like to attach themselves on peoples back until they grow into maturity. They were a big problem at first, attacking the village and other animals in the South Pole, at least the adults were. Baby Oogpas tend to attach themselves on people's back. Naruto and the rest of the village put the stop to the grown up Oogpas until those yeti-like creatures learned to co-exist with the rest of the South Pole. At the moment, the village has a silent truce with the creatures.

"But. . ." Katara tried again but was silenced when Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry so much, Katara-chan. It's not like we won't be seeing each other again ever. It's just I need to go out there earlier. It's not like I don't want you to go with me on my journey but right now, you are needed here more than me."

"It's still not fair." She said sadly, pouting cutely.

"I know." He ruffled her hair a bit smiling. Then, he gave everyone else a nod before getting himself into the canoe. "I'll see you all later!" Then, he was off, using a mild wind jutsu to propel the small sail of the canoe.

The villagers didn't stop waving goodbye and wishing him the best until he disappeared over the horizon.

Soon, everyone started to head back to the village, with the exception of two. Both Sokka and Katara stared at the horizon Naruto disappeared to in silence.

"You do realize that we're coming after him soon, right?" Sokka finally said softly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." Katara nodded, her eyes determined. "But not yet."

"I know. We need to prepare. Which means, we need to get stronger."

"Agreed."

And with that, their promise had been cemented. As soon as they are ready, they'll be coming after Naruto.

A/N:

Its kinda short I know. But the rest will be picking up soon so don't worry.

Next time: Zuko being introduced to shinobi techniques; Mai's and Azula's new training regiment; and finally, Aang's enters the story line.


End file.
